Legend Mining’s Fraser Range exploration play is getting a life of its own now with the company’s newest diamond drill hole punching through another impressive zone of nickel-copper massive sulphides over a combined 13.5 metres, extending the emerging discovery at the Mawson prospect to nearly 400 metres in strike.
Legend said the mineralisation is open to the south, northeast and east with further drill testing already underway as the Perth based ASX-listed company vectors in on what is looking more and more like the next significant Fraser Range nickel-copper discovery after the Nova-Bollinger discovery was made back in 2012/2013.
The latest completed diamond hole reached 363.4 metres depth and was designed to test downhole electromagnetic conductors and the interpreted extension of sulphide mineralisation from previous drill holes.
Legend has now interested some serious nickel-copper mineralisation at Mawson, with a total of four holes now hitting pay dirt. For example, Hole 8 came back recently with some impressive numbers from the lab, achieving a 12 metre zone grading 2.76% nickel, 1.36% copper and 0.14% cobalt from 234 metres down hole.
Legend’s said that it will now make a detailed evaluation of the geology at the project, including its geophysical data before it kicks off its next drill hole in this area.
Managing Director Mark Wilson said: “Extending this massive nickel copper mineralisation 20m south with another wide intercept is an exciting development in the Mawson story”.
“It vindicates Legend’s strategy of step out drilling of geological and geophysical targets generated from previous drill holes.”
Legend’s Rockford project, where Mawson lies, is located about 280km east of Kalgoorlie and covers nearly 3,100 square kilometres, with much of the project under a JV agreement between Legend, who holds 70% and renowned “prospector” Mark Creasy, holds the balance.
Rockford is also 120km northeast of IGO’s revered Nova-Bollinger discovery and 100km south of Tropicana, operated by AngloGold Ashanti and IGO.
An air core rig is also on site at the Mawson prospect, drilling about 130 first pass holes that will give the Geologists a look at just what the cover is composed of and what it may be concealing.
Legend has been finding honey everywhere now that it has done the vectoring work and it is only a matter of time before it comes across the sweet spot itself– and with a market cap of some $430M now, the market meerkats are watching intently for the emergence of the honey pot.
Nickel exploration can often be a lonely business as it is notoriously hard to find and most companies run out of financial puff before hitting pay dirt.
For a while there Legend even looked like becoming yet another Fraser Range statistic that had Nova-Bollinger stars in its eyes without the exploration success to back it up.
However, an innate belief in the ground and its methodical and strategic geological approach has seen the Mark Wilson-led company emerge on the other side of the black hole that usually swallows up Fraser Range hopefuls.
Legend has now spent $14M in total on exploration at its Fraser Range project and $4M of that was returned to it courtesy of the federal Government’s R&D grant program.
That it has only spent $10M net to create a market cap of $429M is quite remarkable.
Legend’s share price in May last year was 2.3c and by the end of April this year it was 21.5c – a little nine bagger for the punters.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact : matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
